Once Upon a Three-Day Weekend in Staten
by MinDanFan
Summary: After yet another relationship ending, Mindy decides she needs to get out of town for awhile and tags along on Danny's visit to Staten Island.


_"The point is when I met Carl, I didn't see it coming. And when it happens for you, you won't see it coming either." –Gwen_

In the end, Gwen was right. She totally didn't see it coming, even though the signs were honestly there the entire time...

_Thursday, October 10__th__, 8:57 PM_

It was Thursday night, a little over a week since things ended with Casey. Mindy wandered the halls of the hospital after her emergency cesarean. She couldn't quite bear to return home to the silence of her apartment, as annoying as Casey had been vegging out on her couch. She groaned as she realized that the office was closed on Monday so she was stuck with a 3-day weekend. Normally she would appreciate Jeremy's desire as the operating manager to close the office, even if it was a little odd that he wanted to celebrate a day for a guy who discovered an already inhabited country that would years later rebel against England. But now, she would be stuck in her misery alone all weekend _plus_ an extra day. Unless, of course, she found a way to make other plans! This thought lingered as she entered the lounge and saw Danny, head leaning back against the back of the chair. She plopped down on the couch, shaking her head at the show about storage containers that Danny insisted was riveting.

"Sooo, Danny. Any fun plans this weekend? Want to have a Mad Men marathon with me?"

"Sorry, Mindy. I'll be in Staten for the long weekend, visiting Ma and attending a 50th anniversary party on Sunday."

"Oh that sounds awesome!"

"Um, not really, it's just going to be a lot of older people."

"I think it sounds like _tons_ of fun."

He shrugged in response. Mindy didn't respond immediately, which was unusual, so Danny glanced up at her. She had an innocent, yet expectant look on her face. He immediately realized what she was angling for.

He sighed deeply. "Mindy, do you want to come to Staten Island with me this weekend?"

"Oh no, no, I couldn't intrude like that…"

Danny lifted an eyebrow as he shook his head. She wanted an invitation but didn't want it to be known she wanted an invitation. This woman could be completely infuriating sometimes.

"No, you must come. I won't take no for an answer", he commented with deadpan sarcasm.

She didn't care that he was clearly mocking her, launching herself at him for a hug as he awkwardly patted her back.

"And why exactly do you want to spend your weekend in Staten Island with me and old people?"

"Oh Danny, you are one of the old people! Just kidding, seriously, don't take back the invite You know how things have been for me the past couple of weeks. I just figured it would be good to get out of town for a little while."

"Yea, that makes sense. I think part of me just wants to go home after the mess of these past few months."

"Well, it's settled then. We are Staten bound!"

"We can leave after work on Friday. I'll give my mother a head's up that you'll be coming, though I'm sure she was already planning on making enough dinner for twenty. And don't pack a million bags. It will be three days with my mother. She does not care what you wear."

"I am so excited to meet your Mom. I can totally charm her into showing me pictures of little Danny. I bet there's a naked baby picture of you on a bearskin rug. This is going to be awesome."

"I clearly did not think this through…"

"That's right, buddy, and it's too late to disinvite me now!"

_Friday, October 11__th__, 5:41 PM_

"Seriously, Mindy? I told you to pack light!"

"OK, first of all, two suitcases _is_ light for me. Secondly, you didn't tell me the dress attire for the anniversary party. And what if we go out to a nice dinner? I had to bring a few nice outfit just in case. And then I never know what shoes I'm going to wear until I pick an outfit so I had to bring a couple of pairs for each outfit!"

"And this?", Danny commented with a smirk, as he dangled from the pen in his hand a pair of lacy red underwear that had been at the top of Mindy's bag.

Mindy narrowed her eyes as she snatched it away from him. "I like to wear pretty things underneath my clothes. It makes me feel good. I'm sure you wouldn't know, what with your tighty-whities."

"Hey, you caught me on a bad day. Not that it is any of your concern, but I normally wear boxer briefs."

"Oh, thank goodness. Because seriously dude, those are much hotter than those god-awful white underwear."

"Good to know," Danny said musingly. "But can we stop talking about underwear now?"

"Hey, you brought it up!"

"Whatever. Let's go. I told her we'd be there in time for a 7:30 dinner."

While Mindy searched on her hands and knees under her desk for her left heel, Danny grabbed her bags, one in each hand, since the small bag he packed for himself was easily slung over his shoulder. And, OK, he didn't avert his eyes right away when they landed on her butt as she crouched.

She emerged triumphantly with her missing heel in her hand and then looked perplexingly at Danny.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? Carrying your bags."

"Oh, well thank you. Gosh, Danny, you're such a gentleman."

"Say that a few times when we're in Staten. It'll make my Mom happy."

"Don't you worry, Mama Castellano is going to hear all about how awesome her son is."

"Oh, God, that doesn't sound good."

"You are going to be so glad you invited me this weekend, Danny."

"Really? Because I'm regretting it already…"

_Friday, October 11__th__, 7:16 PM_

"You must be Mindy. Danny has told me so much about you. I mean he mentions all of his co-workers from time to time, but he talks about you all the time. You're even prettier than he said!"

"Thank you for welcoming me into your home, Mrs. Castellano."

"Please, call me Gloria."

"Daniel, put those bags by the stairs and give your mother a hug."

Mindy smiled as she watched Danny embrace his mother. His mother clearly doted on him and Mindy noticed how he smiled differently and more naturally here than at work. He had mentioned how he had to step up when his father left and she knew for sure that he was a good son.

She waited until Gloria turned to lead them to the kitchen to pull Danny back a few steps behind her.

"So, you talk about me all the time? And I'm pretty, huh?"

"Jeez, Mindy, you know you're pretty."

"Well sure, but I didn't think _you_ thought I was pretty."

"Well I do. So…"

They locked eyes for a brief moment, which was quickly interrupted by a yell from the kitchen.

"Where are you two? The eggplant parmesan is ready."

"This dinner is amazing, Gloria. You are a wonderful cook."

Thank you, dear. Danny was the only one of my sons that would agree to learn how to cook and I'd like to think that his future wife will thank me for it."

"I didn't know you cooked, Danny."

"Yea, not as good as Ma of course, but I can make something this weekend I guess."

He got up from the table to retrieve seconds from the stove, asking with his back turned to the women. "Oh, Ma, did you get Richie's room ready for Mindy or do you need me to make the bed?"

"Well, I figured she could just share with you, Daniel."

"Ma," Danny bit out sharply, quickly turning around to face the table, as Mindy choked on her sip of water.

"What? I want grandchildren. Sue me."

"Oh, Gloria, I think you're confused. Danny and I are, um, well we're not together."

"I know that, dear," she said patting Mindy's hand as the latter woman looked at her incredulously.

Mindy was relatively quiet for the rest of dinner. _What was that?_ _Did Danny's mother seriously imply that she hoped her son would get it on with his co-worker-slash-friend under her own roof?_

She insisted that Gloria rest in the living room while she and Danny did the dishes and prepared dessert. Secretly, she just wanted the opportunity to talk to Danny alone.

"What was that, Danny?! I thought your mother was like super-Catholic."

"She is, but it seems that the desire for grandchildren overrides the distaste for pre-marital sex."

"With someone you're not dating, apparently!"

"Yea, I mean I know she wants me to be happy after all this Christina stuff, especially recently and I definitely knew about the need for grandkids, but I did _not_ expect this from her. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. I get the whole over-involved parents thing. I was just surprised."

"My mother, the matchmaker," Danny said with an awkward chuckle. Mindy could tell he was uncomfortable because he was running his hand across the back of his neck like he always did when he felt awkward in social interactions.

_He didn't do that on the plane. Or in the lounge. In those moments, he was all eyes…open, vulnerable, intimate...looking at her with a sense of longing, glancing down at her lips…_

She shook her head. Why was she thinking about those moments so many months ago? The ones she avoided thinking about when they actually happened, so as to not read too much into them. They had seemed relegated to the recesses of her mind until suddenly emerging with a vengeance in this moment. She was shaken out of her thoughts, by the realization that Danny was currently flicking soap suds in her direction.

"Danny Castellano!," she said in a high-pitched screech as she hit him with the dish towel she had been using to dry the plates.

"Why the full name, Lahiri? Is there another Danny here?" He laughed as she kept hitting him.

"OK, I surrender! You win."

"Damn right I do, mister."

"Oh, wait," he said in a serious tone. "You've got something…right there."

She drew a sharp intake of breath as he gently lifted her chin, more with guided intention than the actual touch of his hand, the pad of his thumb grazing her lower lip as he wiped suds from that spot between her nose and upper lip. It reminded her of the time he sutured her face during the prison fight and made her laugh, essentially undoing his own work.

Danny swallowed with extra effort as he stepped back. "There, that's better," he whispered, breaking eye contact and returning to the sink to wash the remaining dishes.

Mindy remained immobile for a quite a few moments, until she realized Danny was handing her a dish.

_Friday, October 11__th__, 9:49 PM_

Danny had headed upstairs for a quick shower and Mindy convinced Gloria to show her various family pictures of Danny as a child. She had to admit he was an adorable baby.

"You know dear, it's so nice to meet one of Danny's friends. I heard about how supportive everyone was to him after that bitch Christina broke his heart again.

"Um, wow," Mindy responded, surprised at Gloria's choice of words. "Well, Danny's a good guy…most of the time. He's really helped me a lot this year with some stuff…mostly some complicated romantic situations."

"Oh, really?"

"Sure, well he drove me to confront my ex-boyfriend who it turned out was in rehab because he had a major drug addiction and was cheating on me while we were together. Can you believe that?

"Oh, no dear, I…"

"Oh," Mindy interrupted, "And then of course, he's never been subtle about his feelings about Brendan, this midwife upstairs that I had a thing with but he ended up treating me badly."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…"

"I was engaged until last week to this guy I thought was finally the one, but he totally wasn't. Part of me is devastated but honestly, Danny asked if I was pretending and I didn't think so, but maybe I really was. I'm actually glad he ended up leaving to pursue some random event planning thing in Texas."

"Oh, goodness, well I'm glad it all worked out."

"It really did. I am so not dating anyone else unless I already know that they are completely normal and not going to screw with my head."

"That sounds like a good idea. Well, I know that my Daniel can sometimes have a bit of a tough exterior, probably because his father left us when he was so young, but he really does care about the people he chooses to be in his life. I can tell by the way he looks at you that this includes you."

"Aw, thanks, Gloria. You're going to make me cry," Mindy responded as the older woman wrapped her into a hug.

"Oh, God, Ma", Danny commented as he entered the room. "What did you do to her? Mindy, are you crying? Jesus, this was a mistake."

"I'm fine, Danny," Mindy said as she stood up and wrapped him into a hug.

"Oh jeez, what did I do? Why are you hugging me?"

"Because you totally _do_ care and we _are_ friends."

"Yea, OK, we're friends." he sighed patting her on the back, ignoring his mother's not-so-subtle gleeful expression as she observed their embrace. He wasn't sure what he regretted more at this moment: bringing Mindy to meet his mother or talking enough about her that his mother figured it out before even he realized that his feelings for Mindy might not be entirely platonic. Stupid mother's intuition…


End file.
